


Talk Sweet to Me

by combeferre_writer01



Series: Moreid Moments [2]
Category: Criminal Minds (US TV)
Genre: Burrito!Spencer Reid, JJ is a mom, M/M, Moreid, Spencer has a panic attack, mention of Strauss - Freeform, the team make a bet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-26
Updated: 2020-07-26
Packaged: 2021-03-06 03:48:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,550
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25536844
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/combeferre_writer01/pseuds/combeferre_writer01
Summary: Morgan and Reid think they're being clever about hiding their relationship until Morgan answers Reid's phone when Garcia calls. Elle, Hotch, JJ, and Gideon also know about their "secrete relationship". Elle challenges JJ to a bet and Hotch decides to join in.
Relationships: Derek Morgan/Spencer Reid
Series: Moreid Moments [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1842313
Comments: 6
Kudos: 288





	Talk Sweet to Me

**Author's Note:**

> TRIGGER WARNING: Vague description of panic attack.

There were times- disliked times- when the long, hard cases went back-to-back. The special agents were in their respective houses for only a few hours before Hotch had Garcia calling everyone back into the office. 

The shrill ring of what Morgan thought to be his phone pade both him and the sleeping doctor moan. “Derek,” Spencer whined.

Derek sighed and picked up the phone, flipping it open and holding it to his ear. “Yeah?” 

“You aren’t my Junior G-Man,” came Garcia’s voice. 

Derek’s eyes snapped open and he shot up, nearly launching a confused and spooked Spencer to the floor. The doctor would have tumbled to the floor if he hadn’t managed to grab Derek’s leg with one hand and a handful of his shirt with the other. 

“Garcia-”

“Morgan, what- or who- you do off the clock and out of the office is none of my business.” Garcia was grinning behind the phone. “As long as Reid’s with you, bring him along. There’s a new case.” 

“You won’t tell anyone?” Morgan all but breathed. Spencer shot him a confused look, his fist still clenched around the hem of Derek’s shirt, his bony knuckles resting on the other man’s stomach. 

“I’ll make you a deal, Sugar: I won’t tell anyone if you tell me everything.” Garcia’s grin morphed into a smirk. 

Morgan sighed. “Deal.” They both hung up.

“Garcia knows?” Spencer’s amber eyes were worried. 

“Yeah. I thought… I thought it was my phone.” Derek wrapped his arms around Spencer and drew him close so the slender doctor was more or less sitting in his lap. “She won’t tell anyone, Baby. We know Garcia. We’ll get sisterly teasing, but she won’t make things hard for us and she won’t let anyone else give us a hard time, either.” 

* * *

Hotch constantly wondered why the team always tried hiding things from each other. There was no point. Did they have a pact about not profiling each other? Yes. Did that mean they could turn off the part of their brains that kept them working in the BAU? Hell no. That wasn’t something that could be turned off and back on. 

Everyone knew there was something between Morgan and Reid. No-one questioned it. As their boss, Hotchner didn’t care what they did in their down time as long as it didn’t impact their work. As their friend, Hotch hoped they were both happy. 

Morgan wasn’t as snappy after he and Reid started dating. He wasn’t always itching to break the spine of every unsub or more than annoying neighbor of a victim. He was more playful without the underlying self-doubt. 

Reid started smiling more around the time when the edge of Morgan’s temper dulled. He was a little more self-confident- albeit still uneasy when talking to larger crowds. But everyone pieced the truth together in due time. 

Elle had told Reid he wasn’t getting anywhere because he never asked anyone out. The one time he worked up the courage to ask someone out- but doesn’t say who- Reid asks her if flowers are too much. He bought Morgan flowers anyway. 

Before asking Morgan out, Reid shyly asked JJ to help him with the wording. Would a coffee shop be too casual but a quiet, dimly lit restaurant be too much? JJ answered every curious question with a smile and reassured the man at every eyebrow furrow. 

Hotch smiled one of rare smiles when he got three texts from Reid: two were pictures of a tie and the third was a question of which he liked better. The blue. 

The rest of the puzzle pieces fell into place when Morgan came into work- after Reid, as always- with his normal boots shined and rubbing his hand down Reid’s back instead of ruffling his hair.

The only one who didn’t see the interaction was Garcia. She was the one missing the sweeping glances of Morgan’s dark eyes checking a room for Reid’s face after a raid or a checking the lanky doctor for injury after being separated.

* * *

“You know what, JJ?” Elle got the quickly passing blonde’s attention. Thinking twice, she held up her forefinger. “Reid.” Nothing. “Spencer?” The doctor still didn’t look up from his papers, scribbling away with a pencil with a partially straightened paper clip coming out of the almost exhausted eraser. 

The women looked at each other and giggled.

“What’s up, Elle?” 

“You know about Morgan and Reid, right?”

“I’m not a profiler, but yeah.” JJ paused. “Why?”

“We all know Reid isn’t going to say anything; he’s too shy to admit he can feel anything not pertaining to work. Morgan won’t; he’s too personal. So let’s make a bet: when one of them is going to slip.”

Hotch chose that time to enter the bullpen. “Garcia’s going to slip first.”

“What makes you see that?” Both women looked to their boss, but Elle was the one to speak. 

“Garcia knows everything about all of us; she’s closest to Morgan and reads Reid as easily as she reads her codes,” Hotch explained. “You’re discussing a bet about Reid’s relationship while he’s right there?”

The trio looked to the youngest team member who looked up after a couple of moments of feeling six eyes on him. “What?” 

“Never mind, Spence,” JJ dismissed. 

Reid shook his head and turned back to his papers. 

“Are you in, Hotch?” Elle smirked. 

“How much?” Hotch’s eyes danced between the two women. 

“$20?” JJ suggested. 

Elle shrugged. “Works for me.”

“Making a free 40 dollars doesn’t sound bad.” Hotch’s scarce smile appeared on his lips. “$20 on Garcia slipping.” 

“$20 on Reid feeling bad about not saying anything,” JJ decided.

“Morgan’s going to slip up and grab his ass at the wrong time.” Elle paused. “Should we see if Gideon wants in?” 

Hotch debated for a few seconds but shook his head. “He doesn’t care for games of chance.”

* * *

Two weeks went by without a sign from either boyfriend. Well, they got confirmation that Hotch’s bet wasn’t impossible. More than twice, Reid came back from Garcia’s office with pink cheeks. 

The two weeks passed and the BAU found themselves in the midwest, working on a string of serial killings. Reid stayed behind in the PD to finish one of his maps while the rest of the team was going around the second crime scene. Elle, JJ, Morgan, and Hotch stood in wait for work from Reid or Garcia; Gideon worked on getting a little extra info from the head detective. 

Morgan’s phone rang and he flipped it open, putting it on speaker. “Talk to me.” 

“How’s your favorite doctor doing?” Came Garcia’s voice over the line. “I texted him but he hasn’t answered me, yet.” 

Morgan froze, his eyes widened, and all color left his face. 

“Damn it,” Elle huffed. Both she and JJ reached for their wallets. 

On the other line, back in Virginia, Garcia hadn’t breathed since she first heard Elle’s voice. “Oh God! I didn’t know I was- Derek, I’m so-” Garcia stopped. “Wait… You all knew?” 

“Of course we knew, Garcia.” JJ begrudgingly handed Hotch the $20 he was due, Elle following suit. 

“They were trying to hide something from trained and seasoned profilers,” Elle pointed out. 

“And I got $40 out of it,” Hotch chimed in.

“You were betting on how we’d tell you?” Morgan glanced between the three. 

“We’ll explain later,” Hotch dismissed.

“But what you need to know now- and what I’ll tell Spence- is that we don’t care who you love. You’re still Morgan; he’s still Reid,” JJ promised. 

“What’ve you got, Garcia?” Elle brought the team back to the present.

* * *

When Spencer woke up, he was swaddled in a blanket, laying on Derek’s chest. He blinked at the light of the TV and breathed in deeply, nuzzling his nose against Derek’s neck. The older man looked down and brushed a strand of Spencer’s hair from his forehead with the ghosts of a touch.

“Feelin’ better?” 

“I...I uh.” Spencer paused, clenching his eyes shut before trying again. “I didn’t mean to panic.” 

“You didn’t do anything wrong.” Derek kissed Spencer’s head. “Did you hear what I was saying?” The SSA’s voice was gentle and patient. 

“Bits and pieces.” 

Derek sat up, the motion bringing the securely wrapped Spencer with him. Only once sitting up did it occur to Spencer that the blanket he was swaddled in was the weighted blanket from their bed. 

“You okay to talk about this?” 

“Yeah.” 

“The team knew for a while. We knew Garcia was aware because of when I answered your phone at three in the morning. The rest of the team pieced things together. They had a bet going on how they’d find out from us.” 

“Who won?” Spencer cleared his throat when his voice wobbled.

Derek chuckled. “Hotch. Garcia asked how my ‘favorite doctor’ was when she didn’t know she was on speaker.”

“That’s how we know we’re okay,” Spencer nodded. 

“That’s how we know we’re okay. Our boss was in on the bet, no-one went 

screaming to Strauss. Nothing changes since that call in Ohio and nothing’s going to change, Pretty Boy.” 

A calm, steady, and warm silence passed over the couple. “Do you want me to show you how to make a real chili?” Spencer teased an offer.


End file.
